Commercial Kitchen Rental Help (Long, Sorry)

Well, for the past five months I have been using my friends commercial kitchen to bake my cakes. It was a trial thing for me. I wanted to see if I could do cakes on a professional level, like, work on multi orders a week, work when you don't feel like baking and yet you have to fill orders.that sort of thing. My product was very well accepted, great. Just by word of mouth I'm getting pretty busy and clients are returning for more, fantastic! My situation with my friends kitchen was temporary, she is closing shop and moving and the place will no longer be available . I knew that and know is time to decide what I want to do with this cake thing. Anyhow, I decided to look for another share kitchen situation and tomorrow I will be calling someone about it. Up to this point I only shared my friends place and our deal was a bit informal as far as $. And I came and went pretty much as I pleased. I would love any help out there as far as what I should ask this new person about this shared kitchen. I don't want to sound like a total idiot as I present myself. What should I expect? Other than my business license shoul I bring a portfolio? As far as amount of time I will get, storage, fees, do I use their baking pans or bring mine?

I thank you all in advance for your help. You guys here are a God sent!

With our commercial kitchen, we needed a food safety certificate, business license, and liability insurance coverage. Once we moved in, the county had to inspect our business in the new kitchen (FL may be different). Tenants use their own pans, the only shared equipment is the ovens and commercial mixers.

Depending on the kitchen, you may get dry storage and cold storage space included in the rent or as an added fee, and you may have options to pay by the month, by the hour, or both. You'll want to look at your pricing structure and other costs to determine how much you can afford to pay and still make a decent profit. Hourly rates typically range between $10-30/hour depending on location and amenities.

You probably won't need your portfolio, most landlords really don't care what you make in their kitchen as long as you pay the rent and clean up after yourself.